c 


Cotton    and    Immigration. 


ADDEESS 

OF 

RoB'T  T.  Saunders, 

Of  Mobile,  Alabama, 


BEFORE  THE 


British      /Association, 


IN    LIVERPOOL. 


New  York  : 
cowan  &  co.,  stationers  and  printers, 

35     PINE     STREET. 

187  I. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/cottonimnnigratioOOsaunrich 


Comments  of  the  London  Cosmopolitan, 


SPEECH 


OF 


MAJOR    SAUNDERS, 

Before   the   British  Association 

AT    LIVERPOOL. 


JVe  yield  a  large  portion  of  our  space,  to-day,  to  a  verbatim  report  of  the 
interesting  speech  of  Major  Robert  T.  Saunders,  in  Liverpool,  last  week,  as 
the  matter  of  which  it  treats  is  of  cosmopolitan  interest.  The  Btitish  press  have 
commended  this  speech  with  rare  unanimity.  Even  the  "  Times,"  which  seldom 
says  a  good  word  for  anythi^ig  proceeding  from  the  tongue  or  pen  of  an  American, 
compliments  Major  Saunders,  and  devotes  a  considerable  portion  of  its  space  to 
a  report  of  it.  The  views  of  a  practical  man  are  always  worthy  of  attention, 
and  Major  Saunders,  zvho  was  born  and  bred  in  the  land  of  Cotton,  is  thorough- 
ly fafniliar  with  the  subject  he  discusses,  both  as  a  planter,  and  a  Cotton  merchant. 
He  is  now  connected  with  the  well  known  Cotton  Buying  Firms  of  Saunders  &  Co., 
of  Mobile,  Savannah,  Memphis  and  New  Orleans. 

We  commend  this  speech  to  the  careful  perusal  of  our  readers,  especially  to 
men  who  contemplate  emigrating  to  the  Corn  and  Cotton  Fields  of  America. 


New  York :  . 
cowan  &  co.,  stationers  and  printers, 

3H    PINE    STREET. 

I  87  I. 


LOAN  STACK 

Girr 


r-fiSHb- 


Physical  Geography  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  as  affecting  Agriculture. 


WITH  SUGGESTIONS  TO  EUROPEAN   EMIGRATION,  AND  HOW 

LARGELY  TO  INCREASE  THE  COTTON    PRODUCTION 

OF  THE  WORLD,  «&c.,  &c. 


Presented  and  read  before  the  British  Association  at  Liverpool  by  Major  Robert 
T.  Saunders,  Commissioner  from  the  National  Commercial  Conventions  of 
Louisville  and-  Memphis,  and  recomjuended  to  the  Chambers  of  Commerce 
and  to  the  Geographical  and  Agricultural  Societies  of  Europe. 

I  am  one  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  President  Fillmore,  on 
behalf  of  the  Louisville  National  Commercial  Convention,  to  visit  the 
Russian  Fairs  at  St.  Petersburg  and  Novgorod,  and  to  represent  that  body- 
before  the  chief  mercantile  cities  of  Europe,  in  showing  the  great  induce- 
ments now  offered  in  the  South  and  West  to  immigration  and  capital. 

I  have  also  been  honored  with  a  like  commission  by  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  the  City  of  Memphis,  Tennessee  :  and  but  for  the  unfortunate 
war  now  agitating  the  Continent,  it  was  my  purpose  to  have  visited  Northern 
Europe,  and  to  have  aided,  in  my  feeble  way,  towards  directing  attention  to 
such  portions  of  America  as  are  most  desirable  to  European  emigration. 

I  propose  to  speak  of  my  country — the  United  States — mainly  in 
reference  to  agriculture,  and  incidentally  as  to  the  precious  metals.  The 
matter  submitted  is  designed  to  instruct  emigrants  where  to  go,  and  to  give 
in  general  terms  the  features  of  that  part  of  the  United  States  which  is 
eligible,  as  regards  climate,  temperature,  and  productions. 

Western  Half  of  the  United  States. 

Except  a  narrow  slip  of  California  and  Oregon,  on  the  Pacific  coast,  the 
western  half  of  the  United  States  is  a  desert,  and  the  whole  country  west  of 
the  ninety-eighth  parallel  of  west  longitude  is  comparatively  worthless 
for  agriculture,  so  far  as  value  should  be  attached  to  it  by  those  who  take 
into  consideration  the  constant  expense  and  trouble  of  irrigation.  I  do  not 
say  there  are  no  oases  in  this  great  desert.  Saharah  has  its  kingdom  of  Fez, 
and  the  great  American  Desert  has  its  Utah  of  Mormon  notoriety.     Colorado 


167 


has  been  called  the  "  Switzerland  of  America,"  with  its  beautiful  parks  and 
mountain  plateaus,  some  of  which  have  an  elevation  of  over  six  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea ,  but  such  is  the  aridity  of  the  climate,  that 
neither  of  these  States,  nor  any  of  the  States  comprised  in  the  belt  lying 
west  of  the  one  hundreth  degree  of  west  longitude,  can  be  made  to  subserve 
the  uses  of  the  husbandman  without  resorting  to  artificial  means  of 
irrigation. 

This  immense  region  is  better  known  to  scientific  men  in  America  than 
is  generally  supposed.  Observations,  made  for  many  years  by  officers  of  the 
United  States  Army  on  frontier  stations,  have  done  much  to  throw  light  on 
this  hitherto  benighted  land  ;  and,  prior  to  the  late  war,  five  surveys  were 
made  across  the  Rocky  Mountains,  at  various  points  between  the  Mexican 
boundary  and  the  British  possessions.  These  different  reconnaissances  were 
made  especially  for  the  information  of  the  Topographical  Bureau. 

The  observations  of  each  exploring  party,  noting  daily  the  soil,  climate, 
altitude  and  temperature  of  each  locality  passed  over,  with  all  the  data 
pertinent  to  the  different  surveys  made,  have  been  carefully  preserved  in  the 
archives  of  the  Smithsonian  Instftution,  at  Washington  City. 

I  propose  to  read  an  extract  from  the  report  of  Professor  J.  Henry,  the 
learned  secretary  of  this  institution,  made  for  the  benefit  of  the  Agricultural 
Bureau  in  1856,  and  reported  to  Congress — and  to  be  found  in  the  Agricul- 
tural Report  of  that  year,  page  480.  We  commend  this  entire  report  to 
emigrants  wishing  to  go  to  America  : — "  The  general  character  of  the  soil 
between  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  Atlantic  is  that  of  great  fertility,  and, 
as  a  whole,  in  its  natural  condition,  with  some  exceptions  at  the  West,  is 
well  supplied  with  timber.  The  portion,  also,  on  the  western  side  of  the 
Mississippi,  as  far  as  the  98th  Meridian,  including  the  States  of  Texas, 
Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  portions  of  the  territory 
of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  are  fertile,  though  abounding  in  prairies,  and 
subject  occasionally^to  droughts.  But  the  whole  space  to  the  west,  between 
the  gSth  meridian  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  a  barren  waste,  over  which 
the  eye  may  roam  to  the  extent  of  the  visible  4iorizon  with  scarcely  an  object 
to  break  the  monotony.  From  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific,  with  the 
exception  of  the  rich  but  narrow  belt  along  the  ocean,  the  country  may  also 
be  considered,  in  comparison  with  other  portions  of  the  United  States,  a 
wilderness,  unfitted  for  the  uses  of  the  husbandman  ;  although  in  some  of  the 
mountain  valleys,  as  at  Salt  Lake,  by  means  of  irrigation,  a  precarious 
supply  of  food  may  be  obtained,  sufficient  to  sustain  a  considerable  popula- 
tion, provided  they  can  be  induced  to  submit  to  privations  from  which 
American  citizens  generally  would  shrink.  The  portions  of  the  mountain 
system  further  South  are  generally  inhospitable,  though  they  have  been 
represented  to  be  of  a  different  character.  In  traversing  this  region  whole 
days  are  frequently  passed  without  meeting  a  rivulet  or  spring  of  water  to 
slake  the  thirst  of  the  weary  traveler.  It  is  true  that  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  interior  is  comparatively  little  known  from  actual  exploration,  but  its 
general  character  can  be  inferred  from  that  which  has  been  explored.  As 
has  been  said  before,  it  consists  of  an  elevated  swell  of  land,  covered  with 
ridges,  running  in  a  northerly  direction  inclining  to  the  west.  The  western 
slopes,  or  those  which  face  the  ocean,  are  better  supplied  with  moisture,  and 
contain  more  vegetation,  than  the  eastern  slopes ;  and  this  increases  as  we 
approach  the  Pacific,  along  the  coast  of  which,  throughout  the  whole 
boundary  of  the  United  States  to  the  Gulf  of  California,  exists  a  border  of 
land  of  delightful  climate  and  of  fertile  soil,  varying  from  50  to  200  miles  i^ 
width.  The  transition,  however,  from  this  border  to  a  parallel  district  in  the 
interior,  is  of  the  most  marked  and  astonishing  character.  Starting  from  the 
sea  coast,  and  leaving  a  temperature  of  65  degrees,  we  may,  in  the  course  of 
a  single  day's  journey,  in  some  cases,  reach  an  arid  valley,  in  which  the 
thermometer  in  the  shade  marks  a  temperature  of  no  degrees.     We  have 


stated  that  the  entire  region  west  of  the  98th  degree  of  west  longitude,  with 
the  exception  of  a  small  portion  of  western  Texas,  and  the  narrow  border 
along  the  Pacific,  is  a  country  of  comparatively  little  value  to  the  agricultur- 
ist ;  and,  perhaps,  it  will  astonish  the  reader  if  we  direct  his  attention  to  the 
fact  that  this  line,  which  passes  southward  from  Lake  Winnepeg  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  will  divide  the  whole  surface  of  the  United  States  into  two  nearly 
equal  parts.  This  statement,  when  fully  appreciated,  will  serve  to  dissipate 
some  of  the  dreams  which  have  been  considered  as  realities,  as  to  the 
destiny  of  the  Western  part  of  the  North  American  continent.  Truth,  how- 
ever, transcends  even  the  laudable  feelings  of  pride  of  country  ;  and  in  order 
properly  to  direct  the  policy  of  this  great  confederacy,  it  is  necessary  to  be 
well  acquainted  with  the  theatre  on  which  its  future  history  is  to  be  enacted, 
and  by  whose  character  it  will  mainly  be  shaped." 

The  marked  features  of  the  vast  region  of  which  we  speak  is  the  very 
great  difference  of  the  heat  of  the  days  and  nights. 

Colonel  Emory,  who  made  the  first  survey  across  the  continent,  says  : — 
"  On  the  23d  of  October  we  retired  with  the  thermometer  at  70  degrees,  and 
awoke  in  the  morning   shivering,  with  the  mercury  marking  25    degrees, 

notwithstanding  our  blankets  were  as  dry  as  if  we  had  slept  in  a  house 

These  low  morning  temperatures  were  found  to  characterize  the  whole 
country  between  Upper  Mexico,  and  the  settlements  near  Great  Salt  Lake, 
the  summer  observations  for  three'  successive  days  being  at  14  degrees  and 
15  degrees.  At  Salt  Lake,  Utah  Territory,  it  is  difficult  to  grow  Indian  corn, 
because  of  the  extreme  aridity  of  the  air,  though  the  mean  temperature  is  10 
degrees  above  that  necessary  in  a  moist  climate.  The  local  cooling  at  night, 
and  the  higher  heats  by  day,  are  both  unfavorable  in  this  arid  atmosphere." 

To  show  these  facts  from  more  ,recent  authority,  we  quote  from  the 
report  of  the  Agricultural  Bureau  for  the  year  1865  (pages  528  and  529): — 
"  The  desert  and  mountainous  regions  of  our  own  continent  furnish  ample 
illustration  of  these  phenomena  of  radiation."  Captain  Beckwith,  in  his 
narrative  of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Survey,  remarks  : — "  We  observed 
the  greatest  contrasts  between  the  heat  of  the  day  and  of  the  night  in  these 
mountain  valleys,  from  noon  to  three  p.  m.  the  thermometer  standing  at  87 
degrees  to  90  degrees,  and  at  night  falling  below  the  freezing  point." 

That  accomplished  English  scholar,  Professor  John  Tyndall,  says  that 
it  may  be  safely  predicted,  that  whenever  the  air  is  dry  the  daily  thermome- 
tric  range,  or  the  difference  between  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  will  be 
very  great.  In  his  celebrated  lecture  on  "  Radiation,"  before  the  University 
of  Cambridge  in  1865,  in  discussing  aqueous  vapor  in  relation  to  terrestrial 
temperatures,  he  remarks: — "This  aqueous  vapor  is  of  the  utmost  conse- 
consequence  to  the  life  of  the  world.  Imagine  the  superficial  molecules  of 
the  earth  trembling  with  the  motion  of  heat,  and  imparting  it  to  the  sur- 
rounding ether  ;  this  motion  would  be  carried  rapidly  away  and  lost  to  our 
planet,  if  the  waves  of  ether  had  nothing  but  the  air  to  contend  with  in  their 
natural  course.  But  the  aqueous  vapour  takes  up  the  motion  of  the  ethereal 
waves,  and  becomes  thereby  heated,  thus  wrapping  the  earth  like  a  warm 
garment,  and  protecting  its  surface  from  the  deadly  chill  which  it  would 
otherwise  sustain." 

Thfe  observations  of  meteorologists  furnish  important  though  hitherto 
unconscious  evidence  of  the  influence  of  this  agent.  Wherever  the  air  is 
dry,  we  are  liable  to  daily  extremes  of  temperature.  By  day,  in  such  places, 
the  sun's  heat  reaches  the  earth  unimpeded,  and  renders  the  maximum  high  ; 
by  night,  on  the  other  hand,  the  earth's  heat  escapes  unhindered  into  space, 
and  renders  the  maximum  low.  Hence  the  difference  between  the  maximum 
and  minimum  is  greatest  where  the  air  is  driest.  In  the  plains  of  India,  on 
the  heights  of  the  Himalaya,  in  Central  Asia,  and  in  Australia,  wherever 
drought  reigns,  we  have  the  heat  of  day  forcibly  contrasted  with  the  chill  of 
night.     In  the  Sahara  itself,  where  the  sun's  rays  cease  to  impinge  on  the 


•6 

burning  soil,  the  temperature  runs  rapidly  down  to  freezing,  because  there 
is  no  vapor  overhead  to  check  the  calorific  drain. 

Even  in  deserts — the  home  of  the  simoom  and  sirocco — where  "  the  soil 
is  fire,  and  the  wind  is  flame,"  refrigeration  at  night  is  painful  to  bear,  and 
hoar  frost  is  not  unfrequently  produced.  Eastern  travellers  in  the  desert 
often  complain  of  the  broiling  heat  of  the  day,  and  of  its  chill  temperature 
at  night.  Beautiful  allusions  are  also  found  in  Scripture  to  the  same  law, 
where  it  is  related  that  one  of  the  greatest  hardships  whicji  Jacob  exper- 
ienced while  tending  the  flocks  of  Laban  was  that  through  the  "  drought  by 
day,  and  the  frosts  by  night,  sleep  departed  from  his  eyes." 

The  Dry  Line. 

Much  has  been  said  respecting  European  emigration  following  in 
America  isothermal  lines.  Isohygrometic  lines,  however,  are  far  more 
important.  The  elements  of  fertility  are  heat  and  moisture,  and  one  is  fully 
as  essential  as  the  other. 

From  these  facts,  then,  the  98th  meridian  becomes  one  of  great  impor- 
tance to  him  who  is  studying  the  climate  of  the  United  States.  Lay  its  map 
before  you,  and  you  will  find  that  it  cuts  oflT  into  the  desert  a  portion  of 
Minnesota,  nine-tenths  of  Nebraska,  a  large  part  of  Kansas,  half  ol  the 
Indian  Territory,  and  more  than  half  of  Texas.  The  climatic  line  is  not 
absolutely  confined,  however,  to  this  degree  :  it  varies  with  the  prevailing 
wind,  whose  hot  breath  brings  drought,  and  sometimes  desolation  with  it. 

In  Minnesota,  for  instance,  we  have  this  account  of  a  destructive 
drought,  in  the  Agricultural  Report  of  1863: — "The  drought  of  last  year 
must  not  be  overlooked,  however.  From  October,  1862,  to  August  4,  1863, 
we  had  but  about  twelve  inches  of  snow  and  three  inches  of  rain,  the  result 
of  which  (being  confined  to  the  northern  part  of  our  State  chiefly)  cut  oflf 
our  grain  crops  on  many  farms.  Fortunately,  the  work  being  pushed  on 
the  Pacific  Railroad,  the  labour  required  furnished  aid  to  many,  and  a  very 
mild  winter  following,  much  suffering  was  prevented.  With  a  judicious 
expenditure  by  our  own  State  of  money,  and  perhaps  a  small  appropriation 
in  aid  of  the  enterprise  b)''  Congress,  the  irrigation  of  a  large  portion  of  this 
section  of  the  State  may  be  effected,  to  prevent  droughts  hereafter,  as  well 
as  bring  a  good  return  to  the  State  Treasury,  and  an  increase  of  crops  to  the 
farmers  who  will  take  advantage  of  the  enterprise." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  in  a  State  settled  up  very  largely,  and  still 
drawing  into  it  thousands  of  the  Scandinavians  of  Europe,  they  are  already 
looking  to  artificial  means  to  remedy  the  defects  of  their  climate.  Scarcity 
of  timber  and  water  are  the  great  difficulties  which  are  everywhere  met  with 
in  the  great  trans-Mississippi  plains.  In  Nebraska  the  scarcity  of  timber 
forces  the  new  settlers  to  make  "  dug-outs  "  in  the  side  of  the  hills,  until  they 
can  construct  mud  or  "  adobe  houses." 

In  the  State  of  Texas,  the  "dry  line,"  in  entering  it  on  the  north,  recedes 
to  the  west ;  and  the  western  limit  of  the  cotton-fields  of  the  United  States 
is  a  line  passing  north  and  south  through  San  Antonio.  It  curves,  however, 
round  to  the  south-east,  and  touches  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  about  the  mouth 
of  the  Nueces,  on  the  ninety-seventh  parallel  of  longitude. 

Looking  from  this  point  towards  the  Pacific,  over  this  arid  waste,  along 
the  El  Paso  route,  for  fourteen  hundred  miles,  except  a  strip  on  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  a  spot  on  the  Rio  Gila,  which  are  rendered  productive  by  irri- 
gation, that  wide  expanse  is  entirely  unfitted  for  the  uses  of  practical  agri- 
culture. Along  this  dreary,  rainless,  treeless  tract,  every  species  of  growth 
is  spinous.  The  grass  has  thorns  ;  and  original  explorers  thought  even  the 
frogs  had  horns.  The  cactus,  which  is  sometimes  forty  feet  high,  and  two 
feet  in  diameter,  supplies  the  place  of  trees.  The  "  Llano  estacado,"  or 
"  staked  plain,"  of  Western  Texas,  is  so  devoid  of  trees,  to  guide  the  trav- 
eller, that  even  the  wild  Comanche  is  compelled  to  set  up  stakes  to  navigate 
this  ocean-like  plain  :  hence,  its  name. 


Further  north  and  west  of  the  Indian  Territory  the  same  wide  domain 
assumes  a  novel  feature  ;  here  an  efflorescence  of  salt  crackles  under  the 
feet  of  the  walker,  as  if  frozen  snow  had  fallen  upon  the  ground,  and  imparts 
to  the  whole  earth  a  parched  appearance.  ^ 

Proceeding  further  north,  the  eye  of  the  traveller  is  greeted  at  a  great 
distance  with  the  sight  of  trees.  He  approaches  and  finds  "  Le  Grand 
For^t "  of  the  old  Canadian  Trappers — the  "  Big  Timbers  "  of  the  Arkansas 
River  now  in  the  State  of  Kansas. 

Going  on  in  this  direction  over  the  same  unbroken,  bare  plain,  for  hun- 
dreds of  miles,  you  reach  the  Platte  River,  which  is  skirted  with  a  few  willow 
trees ;  and,  hence  through  the  heart  of  Nebrasba  and  Montana,  upon  still 
the  same  endless  plain,  to  the  northern  limits  of  the  United  States.  From 
which  boundary,  looking  back  south,  to  the  frontiers  of  Mexico,  over  seven- 
teen degrees  of  latitude,  perhaps,  there  is  no  point  where  the  forest  is  as 
large,  or  as  wide,  as  that  of  the  "  Big  Timbers,"  already  mentioned — and 
that  "  Grand  Forest "  is  not  a  mile  in  width. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  then,  let  the  emigrant  beware  of  approaching  the 
gSth  meridian,  or  of  going  too  far  west.  It  is  true  that  the  settlers  on  the 
fresh  lands  here  have  hitherto  succeeded  in  most  years  in  making  fair  crops, 
but  this  is  owing,  perhaps,  to  the  strength  and  freshness  of  the  soil,  full  of 
vegetable  matter,  holding  the  water  like  a  sponge,  and  preventing  its  evapora- 
tion. When  this  vegetable  matter  shall  have  been  exhausted  by  cultivation, 
periodical  rains  will  be  indispensable.  In  short,  those  who  emigrate  to  the 
"  Far  West"  must  calculate  to  rely  on  irrigation  solely  in  their  agricultural 
operations. 

The  objection  of  this  is  that  so  few  places  can  be  found  where  water  can 
be  had,  and,  even  when  had,  so  little  of  the  land  is  below  the  water  level, 
and  susceptible  of  irrigation.  A  third  objection  to  this  system  is  the  expense 
inseparably  connected  with  it. 

In  a  report  recently  made  by  the  Hon.  J.  Ross  Brown  (in  1868,  page  484), 
and  referred  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  Congress,  respecting  irri- 
gation canals  in  the  territory  of  Utah,  he  says  : — "  There  have  been  construct- 
ed 277  main  canals,  in  length  amounting  to  1,043  miles,  and  which  water 
153,949  acres  of  land,  at  a  cost  of  $1,766,939,  and  that  there  is  in  course  of 
construction  canals  at  an  estimated  cost  of  $900,000." 

There  are  already,  in  the  single  county  of  Jefferson,  in  the  wState  of  Col- 
orado, '*  about  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  of  large  irrigating  ditches,  be- 
sides several  hundred  miles  of  smaller  private  ditches,  used  by  each  farmer 
for  his  own  crops. 

The  trouble  and  expense  of  irrigation  must  everywhere  be  resorted  to, 
in  order  to  produce  either  crops  of  grain  or  vegetables,  in  this  arid  climate. 
This  shows  it  would  be  much  better  for  emigrants  to  purchase  lands  in 
more  favoured  regions,  even  if  higher  prices  were  paid. 

I  know  the  impression  prevails  that  the  further  you  go  to  the  west  the 
richer  the  lands,  and  the  more  cheap -and  desirable.  This  impression  is 
sedulously  fostered  by  the  agents  of  land  and  railway  companies,  who  have 
•"palmed  off"  millions  of  acres  in  this  arid  region,  where,  without  irrigation, 
there  is  no  certainty  in  crops. 

The  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  will  cause  an  immense 
amount  of  land  along  its  track  through  this  dreary,  inhospitable  region, 
recently  donated  by  the  Government  to  the  company,  to  be  brought  into 
market.  The  company  is  composed  of  the  keenest  speculators  in  America, 
who  have  already  been  using  some  "  sharp  practice  "  in  obtaining  millions 
of  land  and  money  from  the  United  States  Government.  They  will  have 
their  agents  sown  broadcast  over  Europe,  thicker  than  life  insurance  agents 
in  America. 

Let  unsuspecting  emigrants  beware,  or  they  will  deeply  bewail  their 
credulity  after  having  been  set  down  with  exhausted  means  in  some  accur- 


8 

sed  region  where  no  water  can  be  had,  no  timber  in  sight,  no  friendly  cloud 
to  shield  them  from  the  intense  heat  by  day,  and  where  they  will  shiver  by 
night  from  cold,  and  where  they  will  be  in  constant  danger  of  being  scalped 
by  roving  bands  of  merciless  savages.  Their  only  resource  in  such  circum- 
stances would  be  in  joining  the  nearest  mining  company. 

Mineral  Resources. 

And  this  brings  me  to  speak  of  the  mineral  resources  of  this  immense 
region,  for  the  benefit  of  persons  in  Europe  who  have  been  engaged  in  min- 
ing, and  who  wish  to  seek  a  new  home. 

The  gold  product,  since  1848,  of  California,  and  other  mining  districts, 
has  been  estimated  at  one  billion  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars. 
Up  to  a  few  years  past,  the  greatest  production  was  in  California.  But,, 
subsequently,  new  mines  have  been  discovered  and  worked  in  the  great 
interior  region,  east  of  California.  Cities  have  sprung  up  as  if  by  magic, 
and  out  of  an  annual  gold  product  of  seventy-five  millionsof  dollars,  Califor- 
nia now  furnishes  only  one-third  part. 

Persons  of  mechanical  skill  or  scientific  knowledge  in  this  department 
of  industry  can  here  find  an  ample  and  remunerative  field  for  the  exercise  of 
their  abilities. 

Eastern  half  of  the  United  States. 

I  come  now  to  the  pleasing  task  of  speaking  of  that  portion  of  my  coun- 
try, which  I  can  recommend  truthfully,  to  emigrants  as  a  "  Good  land,  a 
land  of  brooks  of  water,  of  fountains,  and  depths  that  spring  out  of  valleys 
and  hills — a  land  of  wheat  and  barley,  and  vines,  and  fig-trees,  and  pome- 
granates— a  land  of  oil,  olive,  and  hone)^ — a  land  wherein  thou  shalt  eat 
bread  without  scarceness,  thou  shalt  not  lack  anything  in  it ;  a  land  whose 
stones  are  iron,  and  out  of  whose  hills  thou  mayest  dig  brass." 

From  the  great  lakes  of  the  north,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  it  is  a  domain 
of  immense  extent,  of  great  fertility,  but  quite  a  variety  of  soils,  watered 
from  the  clouds  as  no  country  in  Europe  is — except  England — exceeding 
that  in  amount  of  rain,  but  not  equal  in  frequency  of  showers  ;  of  a  fine  cli- 
mate, yet  differing  on  the  several  parallels  of  latitude,  and  susceptible  of 
such  variety  and  diversity  of  productions,  that  were  its  capabilities  fully 
developed,  extending,  as  it  does,  across  so  many  degrees,  it  could  be  made 
to  produce  every  article  which  is  required  for  food  and  clothing,  or  used  in 
the  industrial  pursuits  of  civilized  life. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  discuss,  seriatim,  the  fitness  of  each  section  for  spe- 
cial crops.  This  would  be  impossible  in  a  single  paper.  In  personal  inter- 
course it  will  afford  me  pleasure  to  impart  such  information  in  regard  to 
localities  as  I  may  be  able,  but  shall  now  only  call  your  attention  to  such 
general  facts  as  may  enable  you  to  judge  more  correctly  of  our  country 
as  a  whole. 

Its  southern  border  rests  on  the  26th  degree,  and  extends  to  the  46th 
degree  of  north'  latitude.  Do  not  suppose  that  there  is  any  difficulty  in 
wheat  and  barley  maturing  in  this  high  latitude.  Not  only  wheat  but 
Indian  corn  (except  in  seasons  of  summer  frosts),  mature  and  do  well^ 
and  there  is  not  a  more  plentiful  country  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
The  Northern  summer  is  short — much  shorter  than  in  the  South — but  it 
is  much  hotter  while  it  lasts,  and  plants  get  their  required  amount  of  sun- 
shine in  a  smaller  number  of  days. 

Observations  on  temperature  made  by  scientific  men  since  1819  have 
been  preserved  in  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  and  published  from  time 
to  time.  Of  late  years  they  have  been  transmitted  by  its  secretary  to  the 
Agricultural  Bureau,  and  have  been  embodied  in  its  report.     From  an  ex- 


9 

• 

amination  of  these  tables  it  will  be  seen  that  the  proposition  which  I  have 
advanced  is  incontestably  true.  In  one  of  the  recent  reports  the  fact  is 
stated,  and  philosophically  accounted  for  as  follows : — "  For  though  there 
is  absolutely  more  heat  at  the  latitude  of  New  Orleans  during  the  year 
than  at  Madison,  Wisconsin,  yet  there  is  more  heat  received  at  this  latter 
place,  during  the  three  months  of  midsummer  than  in  the  same  time  at 
the  former  place." 

In  the  same  report, -and  accompanying  it,  is  a  table  showing  the  sun's 
diurnal  intensity  at  every  ten  degrees  of  latitude.  It  further  says  : — "  On 
the  15th  of  June  the  sun  is  more  than  23  degrees  north  of  the  equator, 
and  therefore  it  might  be  readily  inferred  that  the 'intensity  of  heat 
should  be  greater  at  this  latitude  than  at  the  equator ;  but  that  it  should 
continue  to  increase  beyond  this  even  to  the  pole,  as  indicated  by  the  table, 
may  not  at  first  sight  appear  so  clear.  It  will,  however,  be  understood 
when  it  is  recollected  that  though  in  a  northern  latitude  the  obliquity  of 
the  ray  is  greater,  and  on  this  account  the  intensity  should  be  less,  yet 
the  longer  duration  of  the  day  is  more  than  sufficient  to  compensate  for 
this  effect,  and  produce  the  result  exhibited." 

As  an  illustration  of  the  position,  observations  made  in  Alaska,  near 
the  Artie  Ocean,  in  the  country  recently  purchased  by  the  United  States 
from  Russia,  show  an  astonishing  summer  heat.  In  the  northern  district 
of  Youkon,  where  the  surface  of  the  ground  thaws  in  summer  to  the  depth 
of  three  or  four  feet,  as  stated  in  the  Agricultural  Report  for  1868,  the 
greatest  degree  of  cold  ever  known  in  this  territory  was  70  degrees  below 
zero  : — "  I  have  seen  the  thermqmeter  at  noon  at  Fort  Youkon,  not  in  the 
direct  rays  of  the  sun,  standing  at  112  degrees,  and  I  am  informed  by  the 
commander  of  the  post  that  several  spirit  thermometers,  graduated  to  120 
degrees,  had  burst  under  the  scorching  sun  of  the  Arctic  midsummer,  which 
can  only  be  appreciated  by  one  who  has  endured  it.  In  midsummer  on 
the  upper  Youkon,  the  only  relief  from  the  intense  heat,  under  which  veg- 
etation attains  an  almost  tropical  luxuriance,  is  the  two  or  three  hours 
during  which  the  sun  hovers  near  the  northern  horizon  ;  and  the  weary 
voyager  in  his  canoe,  blesses  the  transient   coolness  of  the  midnight  air. 

Fortunate  it  is  for  our  Northern  States  and  the  Canadas,  that  the 
heat  of  their  short  summers  should  be  so  decided  ;  for  otherwise  their 
cereals  would  not  ripen,  and  a  dense  population  of  intelligent,  vigorous, 
and  enterprising  men,  could  not  be  sustained  there.  On  this  subject  the 
distinguished  Mr.  Lippincott,  of  New  Jersey,  remarks  in  his  essay  on  the 
"  Geography  of  Plants,"  embodied  in  the  agricultural  report  for  1863  :  "The 
aggregate  of  heat  (which  a  plant  requires)  may  be  received  during  a  shorter 
term  in  high  latitudes,  because  of  the  greatly  increased  length  of  the  day, 
and  the  processes  hastened  and  maturity  attained  at  an  early  day.  This 
is  well  illustrated  in  the  growth  of  Indian  corn,  which  is  said  to  be  re- 
markably accommodating ;  though  it  must  have  a  semi-tropical  heat  where- 
ever  grown.  The  extraordinary  high  temperatures  experienced  in  certain 
Northern  localities,  remote  from  the  ocean,  and  the  intense  calorific  and 
chemical  action  of  the  sun's  rays,  enhanced  by  the  extreme  length  of  the 
days  of  summer,  enables  this  plant  to  mature  in  high  northern  latitudes. 

Great  Britain  and  Canada. 

An  Englishman,  judging  solely  from  experience  at  home,  I  dare  say,, 
is  astonished  at  the  position  I  assume.  But  you  must  recollect  that  you 
live  upon  an  island  enveloped  in  aqueous  vapour,  and  that  you  are  shielded 
from  the  hot  rays  of  the  sun  in  summer. 

Americans  sometimes  maliciously  say,  that  they  have  been  six  weeks 
in  England  without  seeing  the  sun,  and  when  it  did  appear,  it  looked 
like  a  "  boiled  turnip  ; "  and  that  the  only  ripe  fruit  they  ate  here  was  a 
boiled  apple. 


10 

While,  in  the  general,  European  climates  are  much  warmer  than 
American  on  the  same  parallel,  England  is  an  exception  to  the  rule. 
While  in  Upper  Canada,  on  the  same  parallel,  sixty  days  in  summer,  with 
a  clear  tropical  heat,  frequently  as  high  as  102  degrees,  are  sufficient  to 
mature  Indian  corn,  here  the  heat  is  rarely  up  to  80,  and  it  cannot  be 
grown. 

In  Canada  in  winter  the  cold  is  frequently  30  degs.  below  zero  :  here  it 
seldom  falls  to  20  degrees  above  it. 

Fortunate  Island  !  With  a  friendly  cloud  to  intercept  the  scorching  rays 
of  the  sun  in  summer,  and  the  Gulf  Stream  to  subdue  the  extreme  cold 
of  winter,  it  has  a  climate,  of  great  salubrity;  its  hills  and  valleys  are 
clothed  with  verdure  ;  its  agricultural  products  (Indian  corn  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding)  are  immense,  and  the  only  objection  to  it  is — that  it  is  too 
small. 

Grapes  and  Hops. 

The  high  range  of  the  thermometer  in  the  Northern  States,  during  mid- 
summer, with  the  peculiar  atmospheric  influence  of  lakes,  have  caused  an 
anomaly  in  production.  Here,  so  'far,  has  the  grape  found  its  favourite 
habitation.  The  coldness  of  these  bodies  of  water  in  spring  retards  the 
budding  of  the  vines,  and  their  warmth  postpones  the  frosts  of  Autumn,  and 
gives  time  for  the  maturity  of  the  purple  clusters.  Out  of  24,000  acres 
-cultivated  in  the  grape,  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  perhaps  more  than 
half  are  in  New  York  and  around  Lake  Erie.  In  the  former,  one  county, 
Steuben,  has  4,000,  and  a  single  county  in  northern  Ohio — Cuyahoga,  nearly 
•6,000  acres  in  cultivation,  all  native  varieties,  for  no  forisign  one  has  ever 
succeeded  there,  except  under  glass. 

Another  product,  the  hop,  is  cultivated  in  many  localities.  Its  favorite 
home  is  Wisconsin,  where  iri  one  county — Sauk — more  hops  are  made  than 
in  any  county  in  the  world — Kent,  in  England,  not  excepted.  The  special 
reason  for  this  success  maybe,  perhaps,  the  heat  of  the  summer — the  severity 
of  the  winters,which  freeze  up  and  destroy  insects  which  delight  in  sucking 
up  its  juices,  and  a  current  of  dry  air  from  the  west,  about  the  season  of 
maturity,  which  prevents  the  blight  which  follows  rains  in  other  places. 

Ignorance  in  America  Respecting  Climate. 

Much  greater  ignorance  is  apparent  even  in  America  on  this  subject 
than  would  at  first  appear.  Most  Southerners  imagine  that  if  they  can  only 
grow  sufficient  cotton,  or  sugar,  to  take  them  north  during  the  summer 
months,, where  during  June,  July,  and  August,  they  can  manage  to  keep 
cool,  they  will  be  healthy  during  the  remainder  of  the  year ;  and  while 
sweltering  in  Northern  watering  places,  and  "roasting"  in  Northern  cities, 
they  console  themselves  in  enduring  the  great  heat,  by  the  mistaken  belief 
that  it  is  an  unusually  heated  term  for  that  climate,  and  that  it  must  be  much 
warmer  at  their  southern  homes. 

On  the  other  hand.  Northerners  who  have  spent  the  winter  in  the  South 
in  search  of  health  or  profit,  hasten  away  at  the  first  warm  breath  of  summer, 
impelled  by  the  same  delusion. 

On  the  28th  day  of  last  June,  the  thermometer  in  Havana  and  Mobile 
was  at  82  degrees,  in  Key  West  and  New  Orleans  at  84  degrees,  in  Buffalo 
at  87  degrees,  but  in  New  York  City  at  94  degrees.  By  comparing  the 
telegraphic  advices  from  various  portions  of  the  country  and  the  West  Indies, 
it  will  be  perceived  that  New  York  on  that  day  was,  thermometrically, 
although  not  geographically,  nearer  the  equator  and  the  torrid  zone,  than 
either  Florida  or  Cuba,  by  fully  10  degrees.  Could  Southern  tourists,  in 
search  of  cool  and  more  invigorating  climates,  have  been  returned  on  that 


11 

day  to  their  homes  in  Alabama  and  Louisiana,  they  would  have  felt  as  if 
they  had  been  transported  several  degrees  towards  the  North  Pole  and  the 
frigid  zone,  from  the  latitude  of  New  York  City. 

The  only  wise  plan  for  those  who,  for  health,  are  seeking  a  change  of 
air  and  temperature  in  America,  is  to  repair  to  the  nearest  mountains,  where 
an  elevation  of  one  thousand  feet  generally  makes  it  three  degrees  cooler. 
Mountains  can  be  found  North  and  South,  sometimes  between  five  and  six 
thousand  feet  in  altitude. 

The  West. 

The  West— I  do  not  mean  the  "  Far  West,"  but  the  "  Great  West,"  which 
by  its  teeming  products  built  up  the  populous  cities  of  Chicago,  Cincinnati, 
and  St.  Louis,  and  a  long  list  of  towns  which  are  the  seats  of  trade,  refine- 
ment, and  educational  establishments — occupies  the  relative  position  to  the 
other  States  that  Egypt  did  to  the  Eastern  countries  in  the  days  of  the 
Patriarchs.  In  view  of  the  increase  of  our  population,  and  the  immense 
immigration  from  Europe,  no  limit  can  be  fixed  to  the  demands  for  the  raw 
productions  of  this  great  granary  of  the  world.  These  staples  are  too  simple 
and  well  understood  to  require  comment. 

The  South. 

The  area  of  the  cotton  growing  States  embraces  a  territory  of  over  eight 
hundred  thousand  square  miles,  almost  as  large  as  the  aggregate  area  of 
Great  Britain,  France,  Prussia,  Austria,  and  Italy.  The  single  cotton  State 
of  Texas,  is  larger  than  either  Great  Britain,  France,  Prussia  or  Italy,  and 
nearly  equal  in  area  to  the  Austrian  Empire. 

For  the  most  part  the  Southern  States  have  heretofore  raised  cotton 
as  a  staple,  and  only  a  portion  of  their  breadstufFs  for  home  consumption  ; 
but  a  salutary  change  is  now  taking  place.  A  more  improved  system  of 
agriculture  is  being  introduced. 

The  great  elements  of  civilization  and  wealth  are  to  be  found  east  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  and  in  the  States  bordering  on  that  river.  Many  of  the 
crops  grown  in  the  great  States  north  of  the  Ohio  River  can  be  produced  in 
the  cotton  States.  Besides  cotton,  sugar,  Indian  corn,  tobacco,  rice,  wheat, 
rye,  oats,  beans,  hops,  peas,  vegetables,  fruits,  flax,  hemp,  timber,  wool, 
beef,  pork  and  hides  can  be  produced  for  market ;  while  South-western 
Virginia,  East  Tennessee,  Northern  Alabama,  and  Georgia,  South-western 
Missouri,  and  North-western  Arkansas,  offer  ample  supplies  of  iron,  coal, 
copper,  lead,  marble,  limestone,  and  sandstone. 

Needless  is  it  for  me  to  refer  to  the  sad  story  of  the  American  War. 
Scarcely  had  two  generations  passed  away — not  an  hour  in  the  life  of  a 
nation — ere  jealousies  and  contentions  sprang  up  which  completely  changed 
the  Constitution.  ♦ 

From  recent  observations  in  Lancashire,  I  am  inclined  to  the  belief  that 
the  cotton  spinning  interests  of  those  districts  have  suffered  almost  as  much 
from  the  late  war  as  the  cotton  planters  of  the  South. 

I  quote  from  a  report  adopted  by  the  Memphis  Commercial  Convention 
on  this  subject,  entitled,  "  The  Cotton  Trade  of  the  World  :  " — "  Cheap  cotton, 
then,  and  in  sufficient  supply,  is  what  the  world  requires,  and  must  have. 
Lancashire  and  the  continent  of  Europe  must  obtain  cheaper  cottons,  or 
their  mills  must  stop.  For  the  past  two  years  they  have  paid  for  '  American 
Middlings,'  and  *  Fair  Egyptians,'  an  average  price  of  over  lod.  per  pound 
and  many  mills  are  now  closed,  or  working  '  short  time '  in  consequence 
of  the  continued  high  price  of  raw  cotton.  With  the  levees  up,  the  freed- 
man  would  seek  the  alluvial  lands  of  the  Mississippi  Valle)-,  finding  there 
a  better  reward  for  his  labor.     The  climate  agrees  with  him  and  he  with  the 


12 

climate.  With  an  intelligent  white  immigration  settling  upon  the  'uplands ' 
of  the  Cotton  States ;  with  smaller  farms  and  improved  seeds ;  with  deep 
ploughing,  commercial  manures,  an  enlightened  system  of  cultivation — 
using  all  the  appliances  of  improved  husbandry,  and  employing  every 
available  means  to  render  the  soil  increasingly  productive — we  could  easily 
extend  the  average  yield  of  the  Southern  cotton,  crops  again  to  five  millions 
in  place  of  two  million  five  hundred  thousand  bales.  It  is  estimated  that 
Georgia  alone  in  the  present  year  has  consumed  upwards  of  twenty  thousand 
tons  of  commercial  manures — guanos  and  phosphates — in  improving  her 
cotton  lands.  The  product  is  doubled  by  it,  the  cultivation  of  one-half  the 
area  is  saved,  and  the  laborer  has  time  to  devote  to  the  cereals  and  fruits, 
making  life  on  a  cotton  plantation  more  agreable  to  the  habits  and  tastes  of 
the  white  man.  We  commend  this  system  to  the  attention  of  the  '  Cotton 
Trade,'  because  they  can  safely  advise  immigrants  to  come  to  the  healthy 
and  well-watered  '  uplands '  of  the  South,  with  a  fair  prospect  of  growing 
cotton  successfully  without  the  constant  drudgery  which  was  once  thought 
necessary  for  its  production,  and  at  the  same  time  surrounding  their  little 
habitations  with  the  luxuries  and  comforts  which  they  have  been  accustomed 
to  in  their  Northern  and  European  homes.  For  although  necessity  may 
compel  the  introduction  of  labourers  from  the  half-civilized  pagan  races  of 
the  earth,  we  confess  we  have  a  strong  preference  for  those  of  a  higher  stamp, 
and  who  will  ultimately  make  good  citizens,  merged  into  our  population. 
Improved  lands  can  now  be  had  in  any  of  the  cotton  States  at  prices  vary- 
ing from  one  to  five  poundssterling — five  to  twenty-five  dollars  per  acre — 
and  farming  utensils  and  work  stock  can  be  purchased  at  fair  prices.  The 
great  aversion  proprietors  formerly  had  to  the  subdivision  of  their  planta- 
tions is  now  rapidly  giving  way,  and  lands  can  now  be  purchased  or  leased 
in  convenient  lots  of  any  size.  With  the  many  inducements  now  presented 
to  purchase  cheap  healthful  lands  and  comfortable  homes  in  a  country 
possessing  natural  advantages  unequaled  in  any  other  portion  of  the  cotton 
world,  does  it  not  behoove  the  '  Cotton  Trade,'  both  of  Europe  and  America, 
to  direct  public  attention  and  immigration  to  us,  and  aid  us  in  working  our 
unoccupied  cotton  fields  ?  By  so  doing  they  would  indirectly  benefit  them- 
selves, and  very  materially  aid  us.  Every  variety  of  climate  and  soil  is 
presented  in  the  cotton  belt,  stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  from  the  Ohio  River  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico." 

From  a  region,  then,  of  such  vast  extent,  what  might  we  not  expect,  if 
there  were  union  of  effort  amongst  those  interested,  to  stimulate  a  larger 
production  ?  Practically  there  is  no  limit  to  the  cotton  production  of  these 
States. 

The  sun  of  Heaven  shines  not  on  a  land  more  varied  in  soil,  climate, 
and  production,  or  better  fitted  for  the  habitation  of  man. 

I  would  incidentally  remark  that,  in  less  than  six  months  after  I  wrote 
the  above  report,  50,000  freedmen  left  the  uplands  of  Virginia,  North  Caro- 
lina, and  Georgia,  and  went  principally  to  the  cotton  fields  of  the  Mississippi 
River  Valley,  and  largely  contributed  to  saving  the  last  cotton  crop,  which 
amounts  to  over  three  millions  of  bales. 

Cotton  Climate. 

No  portion  of  the  world  is  more  largely  or  regularly  irrigated  by  rain- 
fall, or  supplied  more  periodically  with  aqueous  vapour,  than  the  Cotton 
States  of  America.  The  moist  winds,  so  requisite  to  the  life  of  the  cotton 
plant,  are  borne  by  the  "  balmy  south,"  from  the  warm  bosom  of  the  Gulf 
Stream,  and  diffused  over  the  eastern  and  southern  slopes  of  the  Apalachian 
and  Osage  ranges,  and  flow  up  the  great  valley  of  that  mighty  river — the 
Mississippi,  whose  source,  though  mid  "  eternal  snows,"  has  its  outlet  "  mid 
eternal  flowers." 


13 

The  configuration  of  the  lower  Apalachian  and  Osage  ranges,  both 
trending  south-westwardly,  and  sloping  to  the  Gulf  and  ocean — the  close 
relations  between  mountain  and  sea,  inviting  the  moist  south  winds,  the 
heat  and  moisture  generated  by  regular  spring  and  summer  rains,  the  com- 
paratively dry  autumn — all  conduce  to  form  the  climate  of  the  Carolinas, 
Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  South-Western  Tennessee,  South- 
Eastern  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Northern  Louisiana,  and  Eastern  Texas,  so 
genial  to  the  life  and  health,  growth  and  maturity  of  the  cotton  plant. 

The  sections  of  the  South  which  raise  stock  are  the  most  delightful  of 
all  others — Kentucky,  Middle^and  East  Tennessee — while  in  many  others, 
where  cotton  grows  well,  a  variety  of  products  can  be  grown  which  is  won- 
derful. 

On  the  eminence  in  North  Alabama,  where  I  was  born  and  reared,  you 
may  see  its  hill-sides  clothed  with  flourishing  vineyards  and  orchards  of 
apples,  peaches,  pears,  apricots,  plums,  and  cherries.  On  a  field  which  has 
been  cultivated  fifty  years  without  fertilizers,  you  can  see  a  heavy  crop  of 
clover  grown  without  gypsum,  fine  fields  of  Indian  corn,  cotton,  wheat,  oats, 
and  Chinese  sugar-cane  ;  while  in  the  garden  flourish  a  great  variety  of 
vegetables  known  to  higher  latitudes,  with  besides  pea-nuts,  sweet  potatoes, 
and  delicious  melons  and  figs. 

This  is  but  one  picture  for  many  Southern  homes,  and  thousands  could 
be  cultivated  with  the  same  variety  of  products,  but  for  an  anxious  desire  to 
become  suddenly  rich.  In  many  parts  of  the  South  a  rotation  could  be 
adopted  having  clover  as  a  fertilizer,  and  cotton  as  the  hoe  (or  cleaning 
crop)  which  once  fully  in  operation  on  a  farm  would  be  attended  with  great 
profit  to  the  owner  and  improvement  to  the  land.  In  sandy  soils,  where 
clover  will  not  succeed,  the  pea  can  be  substituted,  and  the  commercial 
manures  used  freely,  as  is  now  done  extensively  in  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina. 

Just  now,  when  the  improvement  of  lands  has  seized  the  public  mind, 
immense  deposits  of  phosphate  of  lime  have  been  found  along  the  banks  of 
the  South  Carolina  rivers,  and  are  being  worked  very  successfully,  yielding 
untold  thousands  of  tons  of  this  valuable  fertilizer. 

Cotton  Consumption  of  the  World. 

Permit  me,  in  conclusion,  to  read  an  extract  from  a  letter  which  I  had 
the  honor  of  addressing  to  the  Manchester  Cotton  Supply  Association,  as 
delegate  from  the  Memphis  Commercial  Convention  : — "  One  of  two  things 
must  take  place — consumption  must  continue  materially  to  diminish,  or 
cotton  supply  must  be  increased  in  proportion  to  the  wants  of  the  world. 
After  all,  I  can  but  think  that  the  whole  future  '  Cotton  Supply '  question 
depends  in  the  main  on  the  production  of  the  Southern  States  of  America. 
That  grown  in  East  India,  China,  Brazil,  Peru,  West  Indies,  Egypt,  Turkey, 
and  the  Levant,  is  required  to  be  sent  back  to  those  countries,  for  they  all 
import  in  the  aggregate  more  cotton  in  the  shape  of  goods  and  yarns  than 
they  export,  thereby  showing  that  they  do  not  raise  a  sufficient  collective 
supply  for  their  own  wants.  It  will  be  found  that  cotton  growing  will  be 
followed  steadily  only  in  those  countries  where  it  can  be  made  more  profit- 
able than  other  pursuits.  Where  indigo,  coffee,  tobacco,  sugar,  or  bread- 
stuffs  will  bring  better  prices,  or  suit  the  climate,  soil,  or  conditions  of  a 
people  better  than  cotton,  cotton-culture  may  be  forced  for  a  few  years  by 
the  power  of  high  prices,  and  the  necessities  of  a  resolute,  intelligent  and 
persistent  manufacturing  people.  But  such  culture  will  only  be  temporary, 
because  in  defiance  of  the  laws  of  true  economy.  Other  nations  can  and 
will  produce  cotton  when  stimulated  by  high  prices  ;  but  what  Great  Britain 
and  Continental  Europe  require  is  a  regular  and  sufficient  supply  of  cheap 
cotton.    According  to  the  census  of  the  United  States,  in  i860,  our  popula- 


14 

tion  amounted  to  31,443,821  souls.  Assuming  the  same  ratio  of  increase 
our  population  in  1885  will  be  over  66,000,000,  and  in  the  year  1900  will  be 
over  103,000,000.  Assuming  the  estimate  heretofore  made  of  consumption 
of  cotton  in  machine  goods  for  the  United  States  at  12  pounds  per  head,  it 
will  be  apparent  that  within  the  short  period  of  fifteen  years  two  millions  of 
bales  of  400  pounds  each  will  be  required,  and  in  30  years  3,100,000  bales 
will  be  required  of  the  same  average  to  clothe  our  own  people.  I  have  no 
means  of  correctly  ascertaining  the  probable  increase  in  the  populations  of 
other  nations  of  the  earth,  but  their  present  probable  cotton-consuming 
capacity  is  reckoned  as  follows  : 

SAY  FOE  POPULATION.  POUNDS. 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  9  lb.  per  head 30,000,000  270,000,000 

France,  4  lb.  per  head 38,000,000  152,000,000 

Asia  (including  Islands),  i  lb.  per  head ) 

Australia  (including  Islands),  i  lb.  per  head..  >•  785,000,000  785,000,000 

Polynesia  and  Egypt,  i  lb.  per  head ) 

Rest  of  Europe,  i  lb.  per  head 226,000,000  226,000,000 

South  America,  &c.,  i  lb.  per  head 40,000,000  40,000,000 


1,119,000,000      1,473,000,000 

Out  of  this  population  it  is  estimated  that  only  six  hundred  millions  wear 

cotton.     If  we  add  stocks  held  over  in  various  places  of  the  world,  and 

that  manufactured  by  hand  at 600,000,000 


It  would  show  that 2,073,000,000 

of  pounds — or  5,856,000  bales  of  354  pounds,  exclusive  of  the  United 
States — are  now  required  to  meet  the  annual  wants  of  the  cotton  wearing 
world. 

Hence,  I  ask,  if  it  is  probable  that  other  countries,  though  aided  and  encour- 
aged by  your  association,  will  furnish  suflScient  cheap  cotton  without  still 
drawing  largely  on  that  of  American  production  ?  I  think  not.  No  little 
of  the  wealth  and  commercial  prosperity  of  Great  Britain  has  been  built  up 
by  the  Cotton  States  of  America.  .  The  cotton  mills  of  Lancashire  were 
built  principally  to  spin  our  cotton,  and  regular  and  cheap  supplies  of  raw 
cotton  can  still  be  furnished  by  us  for  all  the  world,  if  we  can  only  procure 
sufficient  labour.  In  i860  the  Cotton  States  furnished  two-thirds  the  quan- 
tity of  cotton,  and  three-fourths  of  that  which  entered  the  arena  of  commerce. 
In  1849  the  quantity  grown  in  these  States  was  only  2,445,793  bales  of  ginned 
cotton,  of  400  lbs.  each  ;  but  in  1859  it  had  increased  to  5,196,793  bales,  or 
more  than  100  per  cent,  in  ten  years — and  that,  too,  without  any  additional 
stimulus  of  high  prices.  With  requisite  labour  and  capital  it  can  now  be 
speedily  increased  above  this  figure.  Considering  the  rapid  increase  of 
consumption  in  Germany  and  the  North  of  Europe  during  the  past  year, 
would  it  not  be  wise  in  your  association  to  look  into  the  practicability  of 
establishing  cotton-growing  companies  in  the  Southern  States  of  America, 
to  examine  into  the  feasibility  of  such  corporations  as  safe  investments — and 
to  report  to  Manchester  spinners  and  to  Continental  capitalists  the  result  of 
such  investigations,  and  the  chances  of  thereby  largely  increasing  '  Cotton 
Supply?'  I  can  make  known  to  you  planters  in  Tennessee,  Alabama, 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Arkansas,  owning  cotton  plantations  now  pre- 
pared for  cultivation,  who  are  ready  and  willing  to  grow  cotton  on  shares 
with  capitalists,  and  who  are  willing  to  receive  their  rents /n?  ra^a  from  what 
cotton  may  be  grown  on  lands  thus  leased.  Arrangements  can  furthermore 
be  made  with  the  owners  of  improved  cotton  lands,  to  work  them  on  shares 
for  a  term  of  years — the  one  party  furnishing  the  land  and  plantation  imple- 
ments— while  the  other  finds  the  labour  and  animals  requisite  to  its  proper 
cultivation,"  &c. 


^0 

Native  and  Exotic  Cotton  Seed. 

The  nature  of  the  cotton  plant  is  very  peculiar,  and  remarkably  sensi- 
tive. Where  it  is  an  annual,  it  partakes  in  no  small  degree  of  the  laws 
governing  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Similar  soils  and  sub-soils,  as  shown  by 
chemical  analysis,  even  in^ adjoining  States,  rarely  produce  like  results. 
Cotton  grown  from  seed  carried  from  any  of  the  Atlantic  Cotton  States  into 
Mississippi  or  Arkansas  will  continue  to  improve  from  like  soils,  whereas 
cotton  grown  from  Texas  seed  in  Georgia  or  South  Carolina  will  continue, 
after  the  first  crop,  to  deteriorate.  I  carried  three  years  since  from  England 
,  into  Alabama  and  Arkansas  native  Egyptian  and  East  Indian  cotton  seeds. 
They  were  experimented  with  on  several  plantations  in  both  States.  The 
first  year  the  samples  from  both  seeds  were  nothing  extra,  but  the  second 
year  they  materially  improved.  As  a  general  rule,  cotton-seed  brought  to 
the  United  States,  from  where  it  is  a  native  to  where  it  is  an  exotic,  will 
produce  a  better  cotton  than  where  it  is  grown,  the  tendency  being  contin- 
ually to  a  longer  and  better  staple.  On  the  contrary.  Mobile  or  New  Orleans 
seed  planted  in  Egypt,  the  Levant,  or  East  India,  will  produce  cotton  the 
first  year  nearly  equal  to  its  original,  but  every  year  of  reproduction,  from 
the  same  seed,  will  exhibit  more  and  more  deterioration  ;  and,  after  the  third 
year,  the  exotic  is  no  better  than  the  native  seed.  Hence  the  absolute 
necessity  of  frequent  renewals,  of  good  staple  American  seeds,  where  cotton 
is  grown  in  Egypt  and  in  India. 

White  Labour  ^in  the  South. 

White  labour  in  the  State  of  Florida  is  commencing  to  produce  largely 
early  fruits  and  vegetables  for  the  Northern  markets,  and  if  ever  thd  great 
staple,  "  Cotton,"  should  fail  to  be  profitable,  a  number  of  new  ones  could  be 
successfully  introduced  from  the  Southern  parts  of  Europe  and  Asia. 

But  it  is  frequently  asked  by  Europeans,  can  "  white  men  "  labour  under 
a  summer  sun,  in  the  Southern  States? 

I  answer  that  "  white  men  "  do  labour  with  remarkable  success  in  mid- 
summer in  the  Northern  States,  where  the  heat  is  greater  and  the  days  longer 
and  what  is  to  prevent  them  from  labouring  in  the  South,  where  there  is  less 
heat,  and  the  days  are  shorter,  and  the  nights  of  more  refreshing  coolness. 

Out  of  the  whole  number  of  labourers,  now  employed  South  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  cotton,  it  has  been  estimated  that  fully  one-fourth  part  are  com- 
posed of  white  men. 

A  correct  examination  of  the  "  Rain  Maps "  presented  by  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution  to  the  British  Association  will  give  no  little  information 
respecting  the  physical  geography,  climatology,  and  agricultural  features  of 
the  United  States.  I  therefore  commend  their  careful  study  to  all  Europeans 
wishing  to  emigrate  to  America. 

I  should  be  pleased  to  discuss  many  of  these  points  in  detail,  but  it 
would  not  be  practicable  on  such  an  occasion. 

My  object  has  been  mainly  to  correct  popular  errors  in  reference  to  the 
"  Far  West,"  and  the  summer  climate  of  the  United  States  ;  and  I  have  ad- 
hered to  dry  facts,  and  rested  my  statements  upon  the  highest  authorities. 

•    We  have  quoted  largely  from  them.     We  have  attempted  nothing  origi- 
nal ;  statements  of  facts  are  rarely  ever  original. 

We  welcome  emigrants  from  the  civilized  Christian  nations  of  Europe 
to  our  land,  in  which  we  have  a  just  pride,  and  on  which,  we  may  truly  say,, 
have  the  gifts  of  nature  been  most  prodigally  lavished. 

"  Her  mighty  lakes,  like  oceans  of  liquid  silver ;  her  mountains  with 
their  bright  aerial  tints  ;  her  valleys  teeming  with  wild  fertility  ;  her  tremen- 
dous cataracts,  thundering  in  their  solitudes  ;  her  boundless  plains,  waving 
with  spontaneous  verdure  ;  her  broad  deep  rivers,  rolling  in  solemn  silence 
to  the  ocean  ;  her  trackless  forests,  where  vegetation  puts  forth  all  its  mag- 
nificence ;  her  skies,  kindling  with  the  magic  of  summer  clouds  and  glorious 
sunshine  " — bid  them  welcome. 


I 


